Playing Cards - Fuku Zukushi 1901

'Playing Cards - Fuku Zukushi' was made by Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu, a Japanese artist, probably using woodblock printing. Look at the pale ground, the way the figures are placed on it, how their costumes seem to float. You can really see the process of how it was made in this picture. I'm drawn to the blue and orange panel behind the figures, it's very striking. There's a real sense of light here, the way the space feels both flat and deep. It's interesting how the orange sky meets the blue water, creating a contrast that is both calming and exciting. The artist has this way of creating texture and pattern in the folds of the kimonos. The lines are so clean, they have a real sense of movement. Chikanobu's work reminds me a little of Mary Cassatt. Both artists are interested in depicting women in domestic settings, and they both have a real eye for color and pattern. But Chikanobu's work has a certain flatness, a sense of distance. It's like he's observing these women from afar, whereas Cassatt feels much closer to her subjects. Ultimately, art is about seeing and interpreting the world in different ways.